Correction to: Comparative analysis of limit equilibrium and numerical methods for prediction of a landslide

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Landslides that occur due to the rapid motion of a rock-mass are a primary risk in mountainous terrains and are a danger to human life and...     

Comparison of deformation induced precipitation behaviour in Alloy 718 under two microstructural conditions

Alloy 718 samples under two initial microstructural conditions, viz., solution annealed to form only γ phase (ST) and aged to precipitate only δ particles (DELTA), were deformed in tension till fracture in the temperatures range from 200°C–700°C. From the comparison of the evolved microstructure of deformed and undeformed specimens that have been subjected to similar thermal history, deformation induced precipitation could be identified. Deformation in the range of 550°C to 650°C promoted the precipitation of γ′ and γ″ phases in both structures. In case of DELTA alloy, the γ′ precipitation was found to precede the γ′ phase precipitation while no such preference for precipitation could be identified in ST specimens. This difference in the precipitation behaviour and the sequence of precipitation has been explained on the basis of the relative concentration of solutes in the matrix of the starting microstructures of ST and DELTA specimens.     

Biodiesel production through hydrodynamic cavitation and performance testing

This paper presents the details of development of a biodiesel production test rig based on hydrodynamic cavitation followed by results of experimental investigation carried out on a four cylinder, direct injection water cooled diesel engine operating on diesel and biodiesel blend of Citrullus colocyntis (Thumba) oil. The experiment covers a wide range of engine rpm. Results show that biodiesel of Thumba oil produced through hydrodynamic cavitation technique can be used as an alternative fuel with better performance and lower emissions compared to diesel. The most significant conclusions are that (i) Biodiesel production through hydrodynamic cavitation technique seems to be a simple, efficient, time saving, eco-friendly and industrially viable process. (ii) 30% biodiesel blend of Thumba oil shows relatively higher brake power, brake thermal efficiency, reduced bsfc and smoke opacity with favourable p–θ diagram as compared to diesel.     

Calcination temperature effect on La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 nanoparticle using simple citrate pyrolysis process

A new simple route was used to synthesize nanosized crystalline La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ perovskite type complex oxide by simple citrate pyrolysis process using a metal salts, La, Ca, Mn as starting materials. To obtain the LCMO nanoparticles the precursor was carried out at various calcination temperatures viz. 500° C, 600° C, 700° C, 800° C for very short time only ～ 60 minutes. The synthesized LCMO nanoparticles were characterized by powder XRD, FTIR, TGA/DTA, SEM. The precursor could be completely decomposed into complex oxide at temperature below 500° C according to the TGA/DTA results. XRD demonstrates that the decomposed species is composed of perovskite-type structure at calcination temperature of 600° C for 60 minutes. The crystalline size that depends on the calcination temperature of the precursor is in the range of 11–22 nm as determined by Scherrer Formula. All the prepared samples have high purity perovskite structure which is orthorhombic. The chemical bonds were identified by the measurements of Infrared IR transmission spectra carried out with powder samples in which KBr was used as a carrier. The IR spectra revealed that stretching and bending modes influenced by calcination temperature. Morphology and grain size were studied through scanning electron microscopy.     

Solid dispersion adsorbate technique for improved dissolution and flow properties of lurasidone hydrochloride: characterization using 32 factorial design

The aim of the present study was to improve the dissolution and flow properties of lurasidone hydrochloride (LH) by solid dispersion adsorbate (SDA) technique. Solid dispersions (SDs) of LH were prepared by fusion method using Poloxamer P188. The melt dispersion was adsorbed onto the porous carrier Florite (calcium silicate). A 3² factorial design was employed to quantify the effect of two independent variables, namely ratio of carrier (Poloxamer 188) and LH in SD and ratio of adsorbent (Florite) to SD. SDA granules of LH were studied for flow properties and characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Tablets of optimized composition of SDA granules (equivalent to 20?mg of drug) and plain tablets were prepared by direct compression method. The dissolution studies were carried out in Mcllvaine buffer (pH 3.8) as per USFDA guidelines and characterized for parameters such as percent dissolution efficiency, t₅₀, and Q₃₀. Tablets prepared from SDA granules showed almost four-fold increase in cumulative percentage drug release as compared to tablets prepared from plain LH. The value of dissolution efficiency was enhanced from 49.60% for plain tablets to 94.15% for SDA tablets. SDA granules did not show any change in drug release and X-ray diffraction pattern after storage at 40?°C/75% of RH for 3?months, which confirms that Florite prevented conversion of drug from amorphous form to crystalline form improving physical stability of the amorphous state of LH.     

Specific Heat of LaMnO3 + δ at 50 K ≤ T ≤ 160 K

We have developed a shell model, which includes the long-range coulomb, van der Waals interaction, and the short-range Hafemeister–Flygare repulsive interaction operative up to second neighbor atom to study the cohesive and thermal properties of LaMnO_{3 +} . The results on cohesive energy obtained by us are in good agreement with that of calculated value by DeSouza et. al. (R. A. DeSouza, M. S. Islam, and E. I. Tiffee, J. Mater. Chem. 9, 1621 (1999)). In addition, we have also calculated molecular force constant (f), compressibility (), restrahlen frequency (_o), Debye temperature (_D), and the low temperature specific heat at 50 K T 160 K. Our results on Debye temperature and specific heat for the temperature range 50 K T 160 K are closer to the recently measured data with an automated quasi-adiabatic pulse technique.     

Modelling of the disulphide-swapped isomer of human insulin-like growth factor-1: implications for receptor binding

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a serum protein whichunexpectedly folds to yield two stable tertiary structures withdifferent disulphide connectivities; native IGF-1 [18–61,6–48,47–52]and IGF-1 swap [18–61,6–47, 48–52]. Here we demonstratein detail the biological properties of recombinant human nativeIGF-1 and IGF-1 swap secreted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.IGF-1 swap had a ~30 fold loss in affinity for the IGF-1 receptoroverexpressed on BHK cells compared with native IGF-1.The parallelincrease in dose required to induce negative cooperativity togetherwith the parallel loss in mitogenicity in NIH 3T3 cells impliesthat disruption of the IGF-1 receptor binding interaction ratherthan restriction of a post-binding conformational change isresponsible for the reduction in biological activity of IGF-1swap. Interestingly, the affinity of IGF-1 swap for the insulinreceptor was ~200 fold lower than that of native IGF-1 indicatingthat the binding surface complementary to the insulin receptor(or the ability to attain it) is disturbed to a greater extentthan that to the IGF-1 receptor. A 1.0 ns high-temperature moleculardynamics study of the local energy landscape of IGF-1 swap resultedin uncoiling of the first A-region -helix and a rearrangementin the relative orientation of the A- and B-regions. The modelof IGF-1 swap is structurally homologous to the NMR structureof insulin swap and CD spectra consistent with the model arepresented. However, in the model of IGF-1 swap the C-regionhas filled the space where the first A-region -helix has uncoiledand this may be hindering interaction of Val44 with the secondinsulin receptor binding pocket.     

Synthesis of transfer functions by nonsymmetrical lattice networks using lossy coils

A method for realising a v.t.f.by a nonsymmetrical lattice in which all coils can be made lossy is given.